2010 Turkish Grand Prix Preview

The Turkish Grand Prix is often one of the better races on the schedule. In this article, I take a look at a preview of the 2010 race coming up on May 30.
 
I have to admit I thought a Grand Prix in Turkey was a bad idea when it was first announced. I envisioned another swooping track where racing was boring and the crowds were sparse. Well, the track is swooping and the crowds are sparse, but the racing has generally been pretty good. The track has just enough braking points that you can see cars tangle pretty well.


So, what can we expect to see this coming weekend in Turkey? Well, any discussion this year has to start off with Red Bull. The RB6 is clearly the fastest car on the grid and it really isn’t close. There are only two issues the team must face this weekend in relation to their own cars – will they last and will Vettel continue to fade? We’ll only really know when Sunday rolls around, but I think one car will fail with the other competing for the win.
 
The second story is McLaren. The team stunk it up the last few years on high speed corner tracks like Turkey. This years car has clearly been designed to fix that and the car looked blindingly fast in Spain. This is the kind of track that suits Jenson Button very well, but I believe it will be Lewis Hamilton that really shines this weekend. He is going to be aggressive and I finally believe McLaren has given him a car that can win. In fact, I am picking Hamilton to take the win.
 
Ferrari looks like the third fastest car this weekend unless it has made a leap forward with some new design elements. Overall, I believe the order is Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren, but I think McLaren is better suited for ultra fast tracks like than the Scuderia. The real subject of interest will be Felipe Massa who is likely driving for his job. This is a track he has dominated at. If he wants to remain with Ferrari past this year, he better beat his ultra talented teammate this weekend.



No discussion of Turkey would be complete without mentioning the four apex turn. The teams and drivers are used to it by now, but this year they face a different issue. How will the backmarkers and fast cars share the road through the turn? There is really only one line that they can take. Look for an accident at some point this weekend and much finger pointing!
 
The 2010 Turkish Grand Prix will be an enigma. It could be a race where Red Bull wins pole and runs away with the race or something more dramatic with a lot of conflict. You can probably guess which way I am hoping it goes!

<< Formula One Race Results